Wrench



Aug" 25 1925.

i0/ WITNESS E. R. CARPENTER r WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 4. 1923 @i @ai z2 INVENTOR En@ fezlyeefefz ATTORNEYS' Aug'. 25, 1925. 1,551,035

E. R. CARPENTER WRENCH Filed sept. 4. 1923 2 sheets-sheet 2 WITNESSES ATTORNEYS FFECE.

EUGENE ROY CARPENTER, 0F OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA.

WRENCH.

Application filed September 4, 1923. SerialiNo. 660,915.

To @ZZ 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, EUGENE R. CARPENTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Oklahoma. City, in the county of Oklahoma and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVrenches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in wrenches, and has for its object to provide a wrench wherein the jaws are capable of a wide range or degree of adjustment and require for their control and manipulation the use of one hand only, the jaws being at the same time firmly and securely held in that adjustment in which they are best adapted to engage the work when pressure is applied to the handle of the wrench for turning or moving the work although readily releasable when it is desired to disengage the wrench from the work.

A further Object is to provide a wrench of this character and having the foregoing advantages and which is at the same time of simple and durable constiaiction, reliable in operation and easy and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain novel features of the construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and

in which:

Figure l is a perspective view, showing the preferred embodiment of the invention with the jaws open and engaged with the nut;

Figure 2 is a View in longitudinal central section, parts being shown in elevation for the sake of illustration and the elements of the Wrench being positioned as in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing the jaws of the wrench closed;

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the outer jaw of the wrench;

Figure 5 is a similar view of the inner iaW;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view in section on line 6-6 of Figure 2; and

Figure 7 is a view in transverse section on line 7-7 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the wrench which constitutes the pren ferred embodiment of the invention comprises an outer jaw 10 including a hollow body portion 11 and a jaw face 12 projecting at right angles from one end of said body portion. An inner jaw 13 is provided and includes' a fla-t body portion 14 and a jaw face 15 extending at right angles to the body portion 14. ln the assembly the flat body portion 14 is slidably fitted in the hollow body portion 11 of the jaw 10 and the jaw faces 12 and 15 are constrained to move toward and away from each other by the action of a lguide rib 16 provided on the jaw 10 within its hollow body portion and a longitudinal groove 17 provided in the body portion 14 of the jaw 1 3 and in which the rib 1G slidably tits.

The opposite side walls which make up the body portion of the jaw lO are provided with parallel and opposed inclined slots 20. The body portion 14 of the jaw 13 is provided with an inclined slot 21 and as indicated in Figures 2 and 3 these slots 20 and 21 are not only inclined with respect to the longitudinal and transverse aXis of the body portion in which they are formed but they are also inclined slightly with respect to each other, and in such manner that only portions of the slots coincide in any one adjustment and as the jaws are moved toward or away from each other successively adjacent portions of the slots progressively coincide or register, as will be hereinafter' fully described. A handle, designated generally at 25, is provided andis preferably hollow and has one end bifurcated to pro-vide parallel arms 26 which embrace the body portion 11 of the outer jaw 10. A pivot pin 27 is extended through openings provided therefor in the outer ends of the arms 26 and through the slots 2O and 21. For the salte of illustration this pin is shown as having its ends swaged over to provide heads but of course it is to be understood that the pin 27 may comprise a bolt and nut or may comprise a bolt having a head at one end and held in place by a` cotter pin or the like.

ln the hollow portion of the handle 25 a nut 28 is rotatably mounted and in its threaded bearing a` screw 29 is operatively engaged. One end of the screw 29 is pivotally connected, as at 30, to one end of a link 31, the opposite end of which link is pivotally connected, as at 32 to the inner jaw 13.

In use, when it .is desired to adjust the j aws of the wrench the handle thereof may be grasped by the fingers and the thumb pressed against the link 31 to move the jaws toward or away from each other. It is to be noted that when the handle 25 is swung in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 the pin 27 'will move from one end of each of the slots 20, 21 to the opposite ends thereof that is from the position sho-wn in Figures 1 and 2 to the position shown in Figure 3, since the handle through the link 31 tends to move the jaws 1() and 13 toward each other and slide the body portion 14 of the aw 13 through the hollow body portion 13 of the jaw 10 so as to bring successively adjacent portions of the slots 2O and 21 into coincidence to permit the pin 2T to pass from one end to the other of said slots. A similar but reverse action is had when the handle is swung in a counterclockwise direction to move the aws away from cach other and it is thus obvious that the jaws may be adjusted throughout their range or degree of adjustment without manipulating the nut 28 but on the other hand they can be adjusted toward or away from each other from the nut 28 by suitably turning the same should it be desirable to carry out the adjustment in this manner.

lVhen the aws of the Wrench are engaged with the work and pressure is applied to the handle by turning the work the jaws come firmly with the work and are held in such position as the pin 27 tends to become bound in the slots 20, 21. This binding action is only had when the jaws of the wrench are engaged with the work and are prevented from moving toward each other, and consequently the body portions 11 and 14 cannot move to bring adjacent portions of the slots 20, 21 into coincidence, whereas the pin 27 tends to move out of the coincident parts or portions of the slots into the intersecting or non-coincident portions thereof and thus enters into binding engagement with the walls of the slot.

I claim:

1. A wrench comprising coacting aws having slidably interfitted portions provided with slots inclined with respect to each other in such manner that portions of the slots coicide as the jaws are moved, a handle having a pin operating in the slots and adapted to be moved therethrough as the jaws are adjusted toward or away from each other and adapted to enter into binding engagement with the walls of the slots when the jaws are engaged with the w-ork and the handle is turned, a link having one end pivotally connected to one of said jaws, and a nut-operated screw carried by the handle and pivotally connected to said link.

2. A wrench comprising an outer jaw having aI hollow body portion, an inner jaw having its body portion slidably fitted in the hollow body portion, cooperating guide means between said body portions, said body portions having slots therein inclined with respect to each other, a handle having one end bifurcated and embracing the outer j aw, a pin carried by the b-ifurcated end of the handle and operating in the slots, a link pivotally connected to the body portion of the inner jaw, and a` nut-operated screw carried by the handle and pivotally connected to said link.

EUGENE ROY CARPENTER. 

